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Launch HN: Solve (YC S17) – We Save International Travelers Hours of Time

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Launch HN: Solve (YC S17) – We Save International Travelers Hours of Time

#21

Post by neerkumar »

I think this can make sense. I recently traveled with a toddler for the first time. I was amazed by how in certain airports (the Asian ones), when they saw I had a toddler, they managed to speed up the process by sending me to other lines. At the same time, in the US they didn't send me to any special line and was horrible. I would have easily paid 200$ to avoid staying in line with a toddler.

The website though seems so vague. It is really hard to understand exactly what I would be paying for. There is a little bit of everything and nothing is very concrete.

Re: Launch HN: Solve (YC S17) – We Save International Travelers Hours of Time

#23

Post by nathan_f77 »

venning wrote: post #22

Off-topic, but how expensive are five-letter, English word .com domains right now? I don't see new companies with domains that are small-ish words very often.

Wow, yeah that domain must have cost a ton of money. Wouldn't that be worth at least 5 figures, maybe even 6? Is that something that YC would encourage them to do, and maybe help fund the domain purchase?

Re: Launch HN: Solve (YC S17) – We Save International Travelers Hours of Time

#24

Post by nathan_f77 »

JimDabell wrote: post #7

One of the first things I do when I arrive in a new country is pick up a local SIM card so I can use my phone without roaming charges. Sometimes this is nice and simple where you just walk to a booth in the airport and pick one up, other times it's a real hassle, having to hunt around for a local shop and fill in personal information on sign-up. Have you considered providing local SIM cards as part of your service?

+1, that would be great. Usually it's pretty easy to pick one up in the airport, but I would certainly pay a little extra if I didn't have to think about it.

Re: Launch HN: Solve (YC S17) – We Save International Travelers Hours of Time

#25

Post by blainevess »

wbeckler wrote: post #5

If it's possible to pay more to avoid the hassle that the other 99% have to deal with, then there is even less incentive for elites to rein in the unnecessary hassle. I'm sure the 1% will love it, but due to the political calculus, your success will make the world a worse place.

We definitely want to make this type of service available to more people in the long term and we believe that increased awareness/volume will help make that happen. TSA Precheck has been helpful to the masses within the USA, and perhaps we'll head down a similar path internationally. Airports in general haven't been very technologically-focused and even at this early stage, we're seeing an opportunity to help airports improve.

Re: Launch HN: Solve (YC S17) – We Save International Travelers Hours of Time

#26

Post by nathan_f77 »

shawnsheikh wrote: post #20
ck_one wrote: post #4

Can you eloborate on what "fast track immigration" means? How can you get your customers faster through immigration?

Exactly what tintor is saying. We have access to special lanes including fast track lines, pilot/crew lanes, or the diplomat lines. In other cases, our agents are able to simply walk travels to the front of the immigrations/customs lines.

Wow, how did you do that? Do you have deals with every airport, and part of the cost is paying for the faster line?

I've been through a priority queue in business class, but this sounds like a much cheaper option if you just want to fly economy. I will definitely try this out on my next trip.

Re: Launch HN: Solve (YC S17) – We Save International Travelers Hours of Time

#27

Post by [deleted] »

JimDabell wrote: post #7

One of the first things I do when I arrive in a new country is pick up a local SIM card so I can use my phone without roaming charges. Sometimes this is nice and simple where you just walk to a booth in the airport and pick one up, other times it's a real hassle, having to hunt around for a local shop and fill in personal information on sign-up. Have you considered providing local SIM cards as part of your service?

[deleted]

Re: Launch HN: Solve (YC S17) – We Save International Travelers Hours of Time

#28

Post by blainevess »

rllin wrote: post #6

Where are you seeing (your own comprehensive market research?) that there's an actual demand for this? I'm very curious as wanting a service like this seems like such an odd desire to me. Traveling is cumbersome at times, but those that do it often often have it down to a science themselves.

This type of service has actually existed for about 20 - 30 years and a decent number of people use it, but there's never been 1) an easy way to book it and 2) price transparency. We've solved those two issues and we believe many more people will book the service once they're aware of it. Plus, frequent travelers want to move quickly and safely and we help make that happen.

Re: Launch HN: Solve (YC S17) – We Save International Travelers Hours of Time

#29

Post by blainevess »

neerkumar wrote: post #21

I think this can make sense. I recently traveled with a toddler for the first time. I was amazed by how in certain airports (the Asian ones), when they saw I had a toddler, they managed to speed up the process by sending me to other lines. At the same time, in the US they didn't send me to any special line and was horrible. I would have easily paid 200$ to avoid staying in line with a toddler. The website though seem…

Thanks for your feedback. We are working on the language on the website. Believe it or not, our pricing / services page (https://www.solve.com/pricing/) explains this service much better than what's been done in the past, but you're right that there's room for improvement. The next version of the site will be launching this month and is a bit clearer.

Re: Launch HN: Solve (YC S17) – We Save International Travelers Hours of Time

#30

Post by throwaway123945 »

JimDabell wrote: post #7

One of the first things I do when I arrive in a new country is pick up a local SIM card so I can use my phone without roaming charges. Sometimes this is nice and simple where you just walk to a booth in the airport and pick one up, other times it's a real hassle, having to hunt around for a local shop and fill in personal information on sign-up. Have you considered providing local SIM cards as part of your service?

What about instead of a local SIM card, you're able to get a smartphone from the hotel you're checking in to and you can use it to hotspot your phone?
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